In computer graphics, three-dimensional modeling (3D) involves generation of a representation of a 3D surface of an object. The representation may be referred to as a 3D virtual object data model, and can be rendered or displayed as a two-dimensional image via 3D rendering or displayed as a three-dimensional image. 3D virtual object data models represent a 3D virtual object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. Various techniques exist for generating 3D virtual object data models utilizing point clouds and geometric shapes, for examples.
Being a collection of data, 3D models can be created by hand, algorithmically, or objects can be scanned, for example. As an example, an artist may manually generate a 3D image of an object that can be used as the 3D model. As another example, a given object may be scanned from a number of different angles, and the scanned images can be combined to generate the 3D image of the object. As still another example, an image of an object may be used to generate a point cloud that can be algorithmically processed to generate the 3D image.
3D virtual object data models may include solid models that define a volume of the object, or may include shell or boundary models that represent a surface (e.g. the boundary) of the object. Because an appearance of an object depends largely on an exterior of the object, boundary representations are common in computer graphics.
3D models are used in a wide variety of fields, and may be displayed using a number of different types of interfaces. Example interfaces may provide functionality to enable interaction between a user and the 3D models.